Hair Transplant: What to expect and what not to!

A lot of patients come to us on a regular basis for hair transplants. After informing them about the entire procedure, we always tell them to have realistic expectations from their Hair Transplant. Here is what you should expect:

It is imperative to sit for a proper consultation before going through the process. And give hair transplant enough time to grow properly. You cannot expect it to grow completely within a month or a week. If you do, then you are in for a pool of disappointment.

Here is what your journey would look like:

The day after hair transplant surgery, it is completely normal to have a little blood on your scalp which you need to wash gently but thoroughly. The blood hardly ever occurs again so you do not have to worry about it. There might a little numbness in the donor area but the soreness has visibly reduced.

There might be a little swelling on my forehead. Soreness and numbness in the donor area had completely disappeared.

On Day 10, the grafts are permanently placed and cannot get dislodged. You need to exercise precaution for ten days after hair transplant surgery.

Three weeks later, the hair starts to shed and after 2-5 months they start to grow properly.

As mentioned previously, exercising caution is of top most priority. You need to take care of your hair for at least a year after transplant, otherwise, the result might not be fruitful.

A hair transplant is generally not limited to one session or one seating, you need to sit for multiple sessions to get a successful hair transplant.

Do not fall for the ‘hair graft calculator’ scheme available online. Only your doctor can tell you exactly the grafts that need to be placed in the transplant area. It depends on various factors, such as texture, curly or straight (as curly hair cover a fuller area) as well as your age and hair growth in the donor area, to estimate the exact amount.

A hair transplant is not a permanent solution, but it is an extremely long term. Just like your normal hair, degeneration might occur at an extremely old age.

Due to the absence of DHT receptors, you need to have a proper intake of minoxidil and finasteride to preserve your hair. Otherwise, the permanent hair transplant would wear out very soon and you will end up wasting time and money.

You definitely need to take minoxidil and finasteride because the donor dominance theory suggests that hairs from body and back of the scalp are resistant to DHT so when they are transplanted at the recipient area then they don’t lose but there is another theory called recipient dominance in which 15 to 20 percent transplanted hairs may get some characteristics of recipient's hairs and may get affected by DHT and end up losing hair. So as a precaution, patients should take minoxidil and finasteride.

Shock Loss is extremely common after 3 months of hair transplant? The recipient hair can cause the native hair to fall out as they get traumatized. This occurs in a few patients but is just a temporary problem.

Each case is different, it is extremely important to consult your doctor and go for multiple sessions before you undertake hair transplant.